The Republican Kingdom of Grand and Belluterra

Two things: 1) Can someone do that wavy-flag effect for my flag? and 2) [Only admins are allowed to see this link] today's edition of the Francistown Times, so that you can understand part of the first update, coming soon!

First update as an AIN observer, tomorrow!

Can't wait

Today was a busy day, so I wasn't able to get them today

Don't worry, I'll get them within 72 hours

We don't need continuous updates about when you'll post the images Daniel. Just post them when you can.

Ok That takes a lot of pressure off me Thanks Thomas!

King Daniel IV was born Prince Daniel John Alexander Phillip Petersroy, on the 19th of February, 1974, to King Daniel III and Grand Princess Alicia, the second of three sons and five daughters from his father's first wife, a little over five years after the conclusion of the Third Island War. Due to the fact that the Royal Palaces were still being reconstructed after being devastated during the aforementioned war, the Royal Family spent most of their time aboard the Royal Yacht GRY Heavenly, where the prince was born. His childhood was marked by the civil unrest that plagued both Grand and Belluterra in the 70s, caused by the wake of the Third Island War, and also in the case of Grand, the usual cause of the Spanish rebelling again. These events, and others as well, convinced the young prince that at least in the case of Grand, constitutional monarchy was a failure, and a return to the absolutism of his forefathers was nessecary. He also resolved to try to help his older brother Charles to try and reunite Grand and Belluterra, which had so fatefully separated in 1790. However, Prince Imperial Charles died after a short battle with cancer in 1986, making Daniel the new Prince Imperial, and therefore, he was to be the next in line to the throne. He soon began to take over several of the Royal duties from his aging father.
He retired from politics in 1990 to marry his childhood friend Amanthis McCloskey. However, being the next in line, he was unable to completely leave politics, and eventually, he was forced to reenter politics. The overthrow of the ruling Communist Party of Belluterra in 1992, with secret funding from Grand, brought Prince Daniel's goals one step closer to completion. That year was also the year in which he and his wife had their first child, a daughter, who they christened May, after the month she was born in. A little less than a year later, they had another child, a son, who they called Charles. Their third child, Prince Luke, was born in 1996.
King Daniel III died in late 1997, at the age of 68, thus making Daniel the new king. A few days before his coronation, his wife gave birth to another daughter, who they named Frances. A few hours after he was crowned King Daniel IV, a man tried to shoot him with a pistol, which misfired, however. This was the first of over a dozen attempts on his life over the next 13 years or so. He soon opened negotiations with the newly-inaugurated President of Belluterra to reunite the country. These overtures were favorably received, and the official date of reunion was set for May 10, 1998. When that date arrived, King Daniel I was crowned Emperor Daniel I of Belluterra, merging the two countries into one, to great celebration, after 208 years of existing separately. In 1999, King Daniel finally had the consitution amended to effectively make the nation an absolute monarchy, with the exception of Belluterra. Later that year, Prince William was born. He would be the last member of the Royal Family born in the 20th century.
Princess Amanthis was born in late 2001, providing a new member to the ever-growing Royal Family. After September 11, the nation sent their condolences to the US, while also tightening their own security, and also declaring a still-existent state of martial law in Lamer Province, in order to be able to quickly and effectively crush any uprising among the Spanish. When the US invaded Afghanistan, however, the condemnation was strong, and Grand refused to participate in any way. A few days before the US invaded Iraq in 2003, the Grand Princess had twins, who they christened Mary and Anna. When Bush invaded Iraq, King Daniel called the claims about WMD "a bunch of f****** b*******", and threatened to pull out of the UN unless either the UN stopped the US, or the US stopped the invasion. When the ultimatum expired, Grand and Belluterra did as they threatened, and left. In 2009, they launched their still-classified spaceship, unmanned. It was radio-controlled the entire flight, and successfully returned a few days later In 2010, they completed their project to send a man into space- 5 men actually, to test their own variant of the Space Shuttle, similar in some respects to both the Buran and the Space Transport System, but different in others, such as the ability to refuel in space, and the ability to leave Earth orbit. The crew made a triumphant return a few days later. In October 2010, Grand Princess Amanthis II presented him with what would be his final child, a son, who they named Prince Michael, after his recently-deceased uncle. In early 2011, the Royal House was scandalized when it was discovered that the King-Emperor's oldest daughter, Princess May, had disappeared after having an affair with an unknown person. The Princess was discovered living under an assumed name in the Stone Republic over a month later, and she was subsequently extradited to Grand, where after standing trial on numerous charges, was sentenced to a total of 25 years in prison. Later, King Daniel sent in the Republican Kingdom's official application to join the Alliance of Independent Nations as an observer. While the application was under voting, the birthday of his oldest son, Prince Imperial Charles, rolled around, During the traditional outdoor festivities, one of the King's bodyguards, now determined to have been in the pay of the outlawed SLA, or Spanish Liberation Army, turned on the King and shot him twice. The Prince Imperial was one of the others who was wounded, although he was back to work within 5 days. Later, he sent in an application to join the interplanetary union, the United Sovereign Nations of the World. The nation was accepted on the 2nd of May. King-Emperor Daniel IV & I died in his bed yesterday, at 6:55 PM, not long after receiving Holy Communion, with many members of his family and friends with him. His last words, spoken to Charles, were these: "Keep our nations united."

World leaders have been invited to the funeral, which shall take place on the 10th. So far, President Kyle Johnson of New Chandler has confirmed that he will be there.

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It was unknown if the Grand Financial Representative of the Oblast of Óstrëlaka was going to make it to the funeral, but his plane landed about half and hour before the funeral, plenty of time to get there.

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The ceremony has begun with a service in memory of the late King-Emperor. Among the foreign dignitaries in the crowd are:
1: President Alex Fisher of the Autonomous Presidential Republic of Belluterra,
2: President Kyle Johnson of the Provincial Republic of New Chandler,
3: King Jordan I of the Kingdom of Waterbridge,
4: Prime Minister Matthew Whitehead of the Stone Republic,
5: King Xue Hong of the Kingdom of Astey,
6: Vasilissa Sofia II of the Kingdom of Posillipo,
7: Damien Rougessi, Ambassador for the United Kingdom of Cattala to the Republican Kingdom of Grand and Belluterra, and
8: Michael Kornejev, Grand Financial Representative for the Oblast of Óstrëlaka.
High King Charles Andrei IV of the United Imperial Kingdom of Posillipo and Astey planned to attend, but something came up at the last minute and he wasn’t able to attend, but he still sent his condolences.

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The procession has begun, with the sarcophagus being carried by six pallbearers, with the royal family directly behind them, the foreign dignitaries behind them, and multitudes of Grandians and Belluterrans behind them.

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The procession passes through the Great Hall on its way out of the inner palace.

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As the sun begins to set, the procession nears the magnificent marble tomb constructed for Daniel.

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After the sarcophagus has been put on its specially-carved pedestal, Emperor-Elect Charles I passes by the sarcophagus to pay his last respects, followed by the rest of the royal family, the foreign dignitaries, and the rest of the crowd.

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The sun has almost set as the crowd disperses to go back home. The foreign dignitaries are staying in the palace for the night, and will begin to return to their respective nations, if they wish, tomorrow morning.



Khot hap ee ko,

EmperorDaniel

(Sorry but in the next update, could you turn your pictures into JPEG?)

Otherwise nice work... I meant on the pictures not the events..

Nice Job with the update, Nice photoshopping! ( )

Didn't know that they used such old planes in Adonia

Nice stuff there!

Looks good, but I'm not sure about the editing of the pictures. I think dawn/dusk can be achieved better with lightening/darkening effects rather than changes to the saturation.

And yes, please do make them JPEGs rather than PNGs.

Dryan: Ok, I'll remember that for the future... thanks!

Huston: We've got a problem
Just joking. Thanks a lot!

Kevin: Ask Ernst about the plane, it belongs to the Grand Financial Minister of Ostrelaka.

Thomas: Ok, I'll remeber that for the future

Accomplices of David Zhou arrested

Today, after a brief seige of one of the few large, wealthy houses in Laguna la Mer, ten Ensuñans were arrested as prime suspects in the assassination of King-Emperor Daniel I. The involved vehicles included a tank, three helicopters, and a gunboat. The suspects were caught with, among other things, 10 unopened cases of bullets identical to the ones used to kill Emperor Daniel I and Duke Horace IX, among others. The suspects are expected to be brought before the USNW High Court within two weeks, in what will likely be the USNWHC's first case. The suspect's names and ages are:

Felipe Sanchez, 29
Marco Fernandez, 45
Leonardo Fernandez, 39
Jose Gonzalez, 27
Adolfo Marquez, 53
Sebastian Rosales, 37
Pedro Guerra, 45
Pablo Mendizabal, 35
Manuel O'Ryan. 21
Francisco Sancho, 57

The charges per person are expected to include:

Illegal possession of firearms (30 years)
Illegal possession of bullets (10 years)
Illegal possession of explosive substances (35 years)
Accomplices in five counts of murder (5 death sentences)
Ten counts of attempted murder (10 death sentences)
Second-Degree Treason (death sentence) [WILL NOT BE TRIED IN USNWHC]
Membership in an illegal organization, the Ensuñan Liberation Army [ELA] (50 years)
Three counts of assault (30 years)

More information on this story as it develops.



Execution by hanging of David Zhou to take place this Sunday; general public invited to what will likely be the last public execution in Grand

Membership in an illegal organization? Sounds like that law could be misused quite easily...

Other than that, great! Well, not great for David Zhou et al, but great for you!

Grand looks like a totalitarian nation. at the (10 death sentences) if you got this, you'll be killed 10 times! yeah!

REPLIES:
Thomas: Well, we'll try not to abuse it, the people have rights of course, but you never know :twisted:

Blakeway: Well, not exactly; Grand is essentially a benevolent dictatorship, Belluterra is a semidemocracy, and Malo (Grand's dependency, which is larger than Grand itself) is a full democracy with a similar system to the UK.
Oh, and Grand has a system that revives the criminal after execution, so he can be executed again jk

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Just a little something, to let you know I'm still alive
10 AIN points to whoever can guess this within 48 hours (oh, but don't say anything if you already saw this )

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good luck guessing!

The First Battle of Mousford?

Guess what? It looks like Posillipo's flag, so probably Grand and Belluterra were attacked by Posillipo courtesy of Matt's photoshopping?

um? 19th Century? Perhaps Posillipo invaded Grand or something?

Replies:

Blakeway: You got it! Expect a rise in AIN points real soon!

Thomas: Close, but not exact. In the overall war, it was Posillipo attacking Grand, but in that particular battle, it was Grand attacking Posillipo; that's the (then) Grandian flag flying in the pic

976: You got it about the invasion, but the century's wrong It's the 18th century